brain and immune system

Commentary on the study by Antoine Louveau et al., Nature, 2015, 523:337-41 Structural and functional features of central nervous system lymphatic vessels Until recently, the concept that the brain is an ‘immune privileged’ organ was widely accepted. This concept was built from two main morphological concepts, 1) the impenetrability of the blood brain barrier (BBB) […]

Editorial In 2014 we witnessed a rapid growth of the research and studies at the interface and intersection of neurosciences and immunology. This vast interdisciplinary area, often referred to as neuroendocrine immunology or neuroimmunology, also includes stress-immune interactions that may have complex and multifaceted impact on health and disease. Last year also brought some interesting […]

Overview article The catecholamines dopamine, noradrenaline and adrenaline are well established neurotransmitters and neurohormones. Sympathoadrenergic pathways are pivotal to the communication between the nervous system and the immune system, and the role of dopaminergic pathways in the modulation of immune response is being increasingly unveiled. However, over the last two decades, evidence has accumulated regarding […]

Overview article The body’s reaction to infections involves the orchestration of multiple systems to effectively initiate, execute and resolve the immune response. At the core of these adaptive processes are the cellular and molecular neural, immune and endocrine interactions that begin with the central nervous system recognizing the presence of an infection. The mediator prostaglandin […]

Overview article The nervous and immune systems share common functions: both are involved in adapting the body to the environment and in maintaining homeostasis. Because they are the two major adaptive systems of the body it is not surprising that they have developed common strategies: both are able to sense external and internal variations, which […]

Overview article Evidence shows that the central nervous system monitors and modulates the activity of both circulating and tissue immune cells via the neuroendocrine system and autonomic nerves. Furthermore, findings over the last decade have demonstrated that the vagus nerve represents an important bi-directional link between the brain and immune system. Afferent vagal pathways transmit […]

Historical Perspectives The brain and the immune system, or the “supersystems”, a term coined by Tomio Tada (1997), are the two major adaptive systems of the body. Although the immune system has been often regarded as autonomous, the evidence accumulated over several decades indicates that the central nervous system (CNS) receives messages from the immune […]

Editorials & Opinion One of the curious aspects of modern biomedicine is the “cultural separation” of immunology research from neurobiology and physiology research. One can argue that the failure to link the immune system to the brain (and vice versa) has played a role in the immunology’s minimal progress from the bench to the bedside […]